Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- A Mazda Motor Corp. sport-utility
vehicle equipped with an automatic-braking system crashed in
Japan on Nov. 10 during a dealership test drive, injuring the
driver and front-seat passenger, according to the police.

The Mazda CX-5 was being driven by a prospective buyer on
the dealership’s parking lot when it crashed through a urethane
barrier set up to demonstrate the SUV’s automatic braking
feature, according to the Saitama Prefectural Police, which is
investigating the accident. The customer suffered a neck injury
while the dealership employee sitting in the front passenger
seat fractured his arm, the police said.

Mazda is investigating the case and will cooperate with
police if asked to, Makoto Watanabe, a spokesman for the
Hiroshima, Japan-based automaker, said by phone today. The
company can’t comment on whether there have been previous cases
where the auto-brake system for the CX-5 didn’t work, he said.

Automatic braking first appeared in premium brands and is
part of a move toward automated driving systems that carmakers
are developing to help reduce human error and accidents.

Car Communication

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, said
last month it will introduce systems in about two years enabling
cars to communicate with each other to avoid collision.

“When it comes to automation technology for driving
through tight curves and changing lanes, I really feel that
Japan’s technology is the No. 1 in the world,” Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe said Nov. 9, after riding in cars from Toyota, Honda
Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. during test drives of their
automatic safety technologies.

Mazda’s system, called Smart City Brake Support, uses a
laser sensor to detect obstacles in front of the car to avoid or
mitigate collisions by automatically applying the brakes,
according to its website. If the driver speeds up when an
obstacle is detected, the system is designed to sound an alert
while curbing engine output to stop unintended acceleration.

The automaker offered the technology as an optional safety
feature for an additional price in the CX-5 when the car was
first introduced in February 2012, and made it a standard
setting after the model was refreshed in Japan last month,
according to Mazda.